Istanbul: The Turkish Ministry of Defense announced the killing of 10 PKK militants in air strikes carried out by Turkish warplanes in northern Iraq and Syria. The Turkish Defense Ministry stated in a statement today, Wednesday, that the Turkish army units stationed in the areas of Hakurk and Qara as part of Operations Claw Lock in northern Iraq detected gatherings of Kurdistan Workers' Party militants in rugged mountainous areas. The situation required the use of warplanes. Their raids on the two areas resulted in the death of eight of them and the withdrawal of others. It indicated in its statement that the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) takes the Qandil Mountains in northern Iraq as its stronghold, and is active in many cities, regions and valleys, from which it launches attacks into the Turkish interior, and that the Turkish army is working hard to dry up the sources of terrorism. It is noteworthy that the Turkish army had carried out a large military operation on April 18, 2021, and it is still contin uing, called Claw Lock, against the strongholds of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in the areas of Matina, Gara, Hakurk, Al-Zab, Afshin, and Bazian in northern Iraq. On the other hand, the Turkish Defense Ministry stated in its statement that Turkish fighter aircraft also carried out a raid on PKK positions in the Peace Spring operations area in northern Syria, which resulted in the killing of 2 of the organization's militants. Source: National Iraqi News Agency